It took exactly one month to the day for an activated Indiana population to turn back efforts by their state’s health department to coerce and pressure parents, outside of law, into having their children receive the potentially dangerous human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV). Independent health journalist, Jefferey Jaxen, was contacted by two separate families telling of letters they received by their state’s health departments regarding their child’s HPV vaccine status. An article chronicling the incidents was immediately published to raise awareness on October 5th, 2015.
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Investigation revealed that the official health department letters received did not state whether or not the HPV vaccine was mandatory. This grey area created confusion and anger as many states are currently moving to pass mandatory vaccination laws with potentially severe penalties. What was more striking was the fact that the children, who were named in the official state letters, were found because of their inclusion into a vaccine tracking list. The problem was that the parents never knowingly consented to their child’s participation and inclusion onto this list. Investigations revealed that every state has a vaccine tracking list, or immunization information system, for children. With each step to coerce parents, omit vital information, and unethically push vaccines on children, states are losing major integrity.

Activated Communities are Unstoppable

Indiana parents, along with the American Family Association of Indiana, sent letters, emails, and made phone calls protesting the intrusion by the State's government into private affairs along with other vaccine related concerns prompted by the letter. After one month, obtuse officials caved and were forced to comply with the will of its citizens. The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reported on November 6th, 2015 that the Indiana State Department of Health has revised a letter sent to about 305,000 parents of Indiana children with no record of having started the three-dose vaccine for human papillomavirus, or HPV. The revised letter now truthfully states that the HPV vaccine is not required by the State of Indiana, information that was previously omitted. The new letter also prominently points out that the Indiana State Department of Health regularly reviews immunization records reported to the state’s Children and Hoosier Immunization Registry Program, or CHIRP, and includes a link to have a child’s information permanently removed from the registry. Commenting on state intrusion into a parent’s medical choice Indiana Governor Mike Pence commented, “I think it is a decision that's best left to parents in consultation with their doctors.”

The Greater Good for Who?

It should always be remember that the HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, are private products of a corporation. Glaxo Smith Kline, the makers of Cervarix, have paid out more that $9.1 billion in a variety of lawsuits and major convictions since 2003. Worldwide, the damage and efficacy of Gardasil and Cervarix is being reviewed by many regulatory health agencies and oversight bodies. In addition, the vaccine has been the center of countless lawsuits and legal actions worldwide. The European Union’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recently convened a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) in response to mounting HPV vaccine damage among European Union teenagers. The SAC is looking at 13,915 cases of HPV related damage. In 2013, the Japanese Health Ministry rescinded its recommendation for the use of HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix. The removal of these shots was prompted after mounting evidence of serious adverse side effects and incongruent science. Japan has refused to add the shot back to the schedule to date. A report in 2014 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office looking at the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which has paid out well over $3 billion in vaccine damages, stated:

“11 percent of claims filed since fiscal year 1999 were still in process (pending) as of March 31, 2014…”

“In some instances, however, a vaccine can have severe side effects, including death or an injury requiring lifetime medical care.”

For those unaware of the current battle to turn back mandatory vaccination and secure medical choice in the United States, this move by the Indiana State Department of Health is a major victory. It represents a previously rare acknowledgement from a governmental body to the demands and concerns around vaccines raised by parents. In addition, this is a win for independent journalists and the alternative media who represents the true voice of the people and the free expression of ideas.